BARROW COUNTY, Ga. — A behavioral health therapist and a cyber threat researcher believe authorities missed warning signs and lacked resources that may have prevented the Apalachee High School shooting.
In May 2023, school shooting suspect Colt Gray was investigated for school threats made on the social media platform Discord, which allows users to hide their identity and location.
Cyber threat researcher Willis McDonald told Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes that while deeper investigation may have been possible, most law enforcement agencies lack the time and financial resources necessary to track such threats thoroughly.
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“Obviously, he was well-versed on how to hide his footprint or at least obfuscate his footprint,” McDonald said.
McDonald pointed out that most kids who use Discord know it makes it easy to stay anonymous, which potentially enabled Gray to convince investigators that his account was hacked when he was accused of making threats.
“It sounds like Colt was using a proxy service or VPN service which hides where you’re actually coming from,” McDonald said. “And a lot of times you just can’t, there just isn’t enough of a footprint or thread to pull on to actually get the identity and track it back 100%.”
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Behavioral health therapist Dr. Lena Clark said it was clear that Colt Gray was having some mental issues, so there should have been follow-ups on the investigation.
“That’s part of the parent responsibility because we’re talking about a minor here—you know, it’s great they’re holding the parents accountable, but it should not take something of this magnitude before people start checking on the mental health of individuals,” Clark stated.
The Jackson County Sheriff said they have seen concerns on social media that race may have played a role in why the investigation did not go further, but they say that is not the case.
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